With eel, I don’t really feel like I want to eat it all that often, but sure enough, when I see Goro eating it, I get a bizarre craving.

The ＃夜食テロ (“late-night eating terror,” a nickname lovingly applied by those who fear for their metabolisms, and embraced by the show) is back! The third season of manga-turned-drama #孤独のグルメ (“The Solitary Gourmand”) premiered July 10 and got more buzz on Twitter than #ショムニ (“‘Shomuni’ 2013″), a manga-based sitcom about office ladies, returning after a 10-year hiatus. However, Goro’s enjoyment of various eel dishes in this episode did not engage Twitter users quite as much as either the Friday Roadshow broadcast of Studio Ghibli’s #平 狸合戦ぽんぽこ (aka ＃ぽんぽこ, “Pom Poko” as it’s known in English) or the premieres of summer anime #watamote (“No Matter How I Look At It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular”) and #kaminomi (“The World Only God Knows: Goddesses).

As in Masayuki Kusumi and Jiro Taniguchi’s manga, Goro Inogashira (played by Yutaka Matsushige on TV) takes himself out for quiet meals when he’s not working and just eats whatever he feels like.

My wife seems to equate Yutaka Matsushige with yakuza or murderer roles, so while we’re watching “The Solitary Gourmand” she’s sitting next to me saying stuff like, “He must be hungry since he killed about three people today on no breakfast,” or “There must be a weapon built in to the tip of that umbrella and any minute now he’s gonna . . . ” So obnoxious.

The fun thing about the show is that Goro eats at real restaurants. Fans like eating along.

Japan plays its first match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, against Côte d’Ivoire this weekend. Although the tournament kicks off two days earlier in São Paulo, for many the Samurai Blue’s opening game ushers in the event, along with the activities that would normally raise eyebrows but get a pass every four years, such […]